1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to field of providing funds in alternative currency, and specifically relates to currency conversion of funds transferred from a stored-value card account.
2. Description of Related Art
One issue with the globalization of business is that individuals involved in global business relationships frequently need to convert funds from one currency to another currency. In some settings, large companies can afford to use dedicated traders and derivatives to ensure that they obtain a relatively favorable exchange rate. Smaller businesses and individuals, however, find the issue of converting funds from one currency to another currency relatively problematic. Certain banks and providers offer currency exchange services to help businesses or individuals, but the services are typically manual and less flexible than desired.
For example, maritime employees are in many cases required to receive payroll payment in cash in one currency while working on a ship, but often desire to provide the funds to a recipient in a different currency. Major cruise ship providers have payrolls in the hundreds of millions of dollars for thousands of employees that must be paid in cash on a regular basis. This may involve distribution of a large amount of cash to each ship, which is then distributed to ship's employees. The employees can then go to shore and convert the funds into a desired currency at local currency exchanges and/or transfer the funds to a location or bank accounts in other parts of the world.
Naturally, this is highly inconvenient for the employees and risky because it is known that ship personnel are likely to be carrying cash when leaving the ship, potentially creating a risk of theft and harm to the personnel as they convert and transfer their money. In addition, the currency exchange rate is usually unfavorable because of charges or rates applied by the currency exchanger. This situation is also undesirable for the cruise ship operators because they want to ensure the safety of their employees. Furthermore, ensuring sufficient cash is available to pay employees is expensive and logistically complicated.
Related problems exist for companies doing business over the Internet, or otherwise seeking to conduct transactions, such as providing pre-paid cards for a reward or rebate program worldwide or in multiple countries. A company located in India, for example, might decide to distribute products in the United States via a third party infrastructure. The third party would receive payments in United States dollars (USD) but would need to provide funds to the company in Rupees. Conventional processes involve sending a check in USD to the company in India, which would then deposit the check in a local bank. The company in India would then have to wait an extended period of time for the check to clear, and typically may receive a relatively unfavorable exchange rate. Conversely, any funds distributed for a rebate or reward payment by a domestic company to foreign individuals face complicated transaction bookkeeping and possible increased currency risk. Further, a foreign recipient of a stored-value card from a U.S. company faces similar difficulty or unfavorable exchange rate with conventional payroll, rebate or reward fund transfer. Such issues often increase the cost of transactions and undesirably affect business owners that would otherwise be well suited to provide desired worldwide goods and services.
Therefore, improvements in converting funds from a first currency to a second currency would be appreciated.